Ridiculously creepy photographs of abandoned theme parks

Many major amusement parks specialise at providing terror: chilling special effects, grimace-inducing speeds, ludicrously expensive ticket prices. But not quite like this…

Snapped by Seph Lawless and laid bare in his new photobook Bizarro, these intimate photographs shine a smoggy light on some of the world’s most ruinous theme parks.

Like name like nature, Lawless narrowly swerved trespassing charges in his bid to capture these locked-down, deserted areas; found largely across the US. Of course as you can see below, the risk was worth the reward: highlights include the now gator-infested Six Flags in New Orleans, abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, and Joyland in hurricane-ravaged Kansas, its attractions captured in the middle of a storm cell.

Indeed, much of the atmosphere behind these photos stems from the fact Lawless deliberately shot at sunset and during thunderstorms, casting an even more ominous shadow over a dilapidated ruin already echoing with lost laughs and cluttered with rusting rides.